Kolkata, July 7: The West Bengal government, headed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Tuesday announced complete lockdown in all the designated COVID-19 containment zones across the state from July 9. The containment and buffer zones will be clubbed together to constitute a "broad-based" containment zone where a strict lockdown will remain imposed from 5 pm on July 9. The decision has been taken following the spike in the number of fresh Covid-19 cases. West Bengal Govt Directs COVID-19 Hospitals to Issue Death Certificates as Per Guidelines Set by ICMR.

"These broader containment zones may be subjected to strict lockdown and all offices, government and private, all non-essential activities, congregations, transportations and all marketing, industrial and trading activities be closed," an order issued by Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Alapan Bandyopadhyay said. Cop Succumbs to COVID-19 in West Bengal.

• All government offices in containment zones will remain shut.
• All privates offices in containment zones will be closed.
• All educational institutes will remain shut in containment zones.
• No religious places will open in containment zones.
• No public movements will be allowed in all the market areas in containment zones.
• Hospital and medical stores will remain open in containment zones.
• Other emergence services such as fire brigade will remain functional.
• Essential commodities will be home-delivered.

The West Bengal government has not mentioned how long the complete lockdown will last in containment zones. The current phase of state-wide lockdown, in force till July 31, was largely limited to containment zones alone. The state reported 850 new COVID-19 cases and 25 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 23,837 and death toll to 804 on Tuesday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 07, 2020 08:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).